De's Birthday Whatsit - [ssshhhhhhhhhhh] - [Actor's Quarters]

[canadianbill]

[tag on this post whenever, guys. :)]

It wasn't exactly a party, not really. Bill and Len weren't sure De was up for a party just yet, although he was showing distinct signs of improvement. Nor was it a dinner, or indeed - thank God - anything quite so sedate and affected as a tea partyTo Bill's mind, it was a whatsit. That would do. There was

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[de_forest]

De did not normally drink quickly, or to excess. He liked a drink, here or there, nursing a vodka from the back of a party as he watched what was going on, or, later in life, settling down with a beer on the sofa, and just talking with Carolyn. But, on this occasion, it was his birthday, and everything was different, and having more than one drink didn't seem like too bad an idea. He didn't want to get drunk, he couldn't remember ever really being drunk, but having a couple of drinks wouldn't hurt.

The champagne had rather gone to his head already, a combination of an empty-ish stomach (maybe he should try one of those chilli cheese dogs they had somehow laid out...) and not having drunk it in a long while. Or drunk anything at all really: the last time he had alcohol had been at Halloween.

De smiled at Bill, almost a full blown grin, and placed his hand over Bill's and squeezed it in response. The look on his face grew more wistful as he replied, "Carolyn would appreciate it, I think, if she were here." He squeezed Bill's hand again, and took another sip of his drink.

[len_not_spock]

Leonard was just about to mention the cake which had not yet been cut, when he caught sight of Tina sitting down out of the way.

He probably wouldn't have picked up on anything being the matter, given the smile she was still wearing, but the memory of Sandi's rather dire bouts of early pregnancy queasiness had been etched into his brain, given how spectacular they'd been at times.

"Hey, you alright?" he questioned softly as he walked over to her. "Want me to get you some dry crackers or something?"

[rn_chapel]

"I'm fine," Tina said, feeling touched by Len's concern. "Just feeling a little off. Though, actually, some crackers or something might be nice - I just don't want to disrupt things."

[emma_mccoy]

Em hefted the three quarts of ice cream and pressed at the doorbell outside the actors' suite. She'd been late. Horrifically late. And was flying solo at the moment, she figured David wanted to have some time alone to digest everything.

[canadianbill]

Bill slipped away from the knot of people at the sound of the door chiming.

"There you are," he said, when it opened to reveal Emma. "I wondered where you'd gotten to. Especially since you were bringing the ice-cream." He winked, and leaned down to kiss her cheek. "It's nice to see you. De's over there - seems to be enjoying himself."

He indicated.

[len_not_spock]

"It's most certainly nothing of the sort. Be right back." Someone would have offered her cake before too long, anyway, although that was probably not the best idea right this minute.

He returned with the promised crackers and a glass of water, before excusing himself to go over and greet Emma.

[headnursechapel]

Christine turned curiously as Bill opened the door.

She hadn't yet met the woman walking over towards the group, but she had seen the guest list; there was only one person this could be.

"Hello," she said, smiling. "You must be Emma." She held out her hands to take one of the containers of ice cream. "I'm Christine. Here, let me help you with those."

[emma_mccoy]

Em smiled at everyone in greeting. She hefted one of the quarts to Christine. "Pleasure to meet you, Christine. And yes, I'm Emma. Sorry I'm so late!" she laughed a bit.

[de_forest]

"Hello, Emma," chimed in De, raising his glass in greeting. "Thank you for coming." It was probably a good thing he hadn't known about the party. If he had, he wouldn't have expected anyone to turn up, but as it was, he was pleasantly surprised that people did want to turn up to a birthday party for him. "You appear to have brought enough ice cream to feed a small army," he added, raising one eyebrow slightly as they moved the ice cream over to the table.

[canadianbill]

Bill laughed. "You'll just have to get on with eating some of it, then, won't you, De?"

He considered suggesting root beer floats, but thought better of it. He had no desire to swing De down out of his good mood.

[len_not_spock]

Leonard expected the ice-cream with some curiosity.

"Well, some of this will actually go nicely with the cake which you haven't cut yet," he suggested with a smile.

[emma_mccoy]

"De, were you able to go through those books you borrowed?" Em smiled as she set the ice cream down. "And I didn't bring that much. I'm used to proportions for feeding a damn football team." She walked over and gave De a hug. "Happy Birthday."

[de_forest]

"I did, thank you," De replied, returning the hug. "Remind me to give you them back before you leave, later." He turned to look at Len and Bill. "Is that a not so subtle hint that it's time for cake?"

[canadianbill]

Bill grinned. "Oh, I think it is past time for your cake."

He slipped a lighter out of his pocket where he had concealed it earlier, in readiness; took the candle out of the other pocket and stuck it into the smooth top of the cake.

"We couldn't work out how old you were," Bill explained, as he lit it, "so there's only one. Which means that if you don't get them all in one go, you'll - you're - well. You'd better."

[de_forest]

"Oh, good. I was rather concerned you'd have found 339 candles to sit atop the thing." De quirked his eyebrow in Bill's direction. "And to be honest, even 47 candles would have been a few too many to blow out."

He looked around at the small group assembled in the room a bit anxiously. "You're...you're not all going to sing 'Happy Birthday' are you?" he said, with slight trepidation.

[len_not_spock]

Leonard smiled openly at De.

"That depends entirely on whether you would like us to."